Imperfect
by escudo-blade
Summary: She spent a year without him. He spent much longer . . . Sequel to Gohan the Mighty. Third Chapter Up. Formerly known as Hikaru the Willful. HIATUS
1. Prologue

Disclaimer : I don't own anything, but I have been taking care of a local hobo lately, but I couldn't get legal ownership.

* * *

**Prologue : Legends

* * *

**

There is an old legend in this universe, one that is shared by all peoples. Whether one's origin is the country of Autozam, Cephiro, Chizeta, or Fahren, they have heard this Legend. It is one of the few cultural similarities that is shared among the four antithetic countries, the Legend is the same in each country, the names have not been changed, the chronology is the same, and locations are congruent. This Legend is older than that of the Magic Knights of Cephiro, who saved the country from destruction long ago. It is ancient compared to the technology of Autozam, which has been the base of that country's economy for centuries. It is older than the Djinn of Fahren, which have been the focus of their military and most religion for thousands of years.

The Legend is of the creation of their universe, or rather, the creation of life in that universe. Some even say that it is actually the restoration of life after a great battle. Nothing can be proven. Either way, the life was created by a single individual, a single indivual who was capable of destroying all existence, but instead chose to create life. A single individual who had a commanding presence as told by some other smaller tales of those who met this individual. A single individual who was mortal.

According to this Legend, a man fought with an incarnation of evil in a battle that took place in a dimension of nothingness. The man unleashed a power so strong that the fabric of that dimension was broken, which created a vacuum that sucked the two beings up while they were still fighting. They landed in a universe of a planet that was a barren wasteland. They continued their battle over the planet, raising mountains. Flattening or dividing existing mountains. They even struck oil. Eventually the man delivers a blow that would kill the evil one. With the evil one's last breath, he said, "I concede, you have won, but remember this: It doesn't matter if you kill me, because I was created by all the evil that once existed. When I die, my evil will be unleashed upon this world, and another like me will surface because of it." The man looked at the evil with a glare of respect, disgust, and hatred, but he would not be merciful or distracted.

Raising his hands in the form of a diamond, he summoned up a sword so powerful, it equalled that of the man who weilded it. Raising the sword up he uttered a phrase quietly before bringing it down in a slash that cut off the evil one's head and made its body explode. The man walked away, his power low after the recent battle. Glancing around he realized that he was stuck in this place, alone. Even if he could regain his strength, he couldn't tear the dimensional fabric without the evil one's help, so he could never leave this barren wasteland.

The man accepted this fact and swore violently before swearing to himself that it could not end like this. Taking a final glance around he used the last of his power to create a magical spring. This was not a normal use of his power, but he was not known for being a normal man. He jumped into the spring and entered what seemed like a magical room with a pedestal. he set his sword upon the pedestal and expanded his power to create a barrier, which would test any who dared to try to take his sword. Eventually, he fell asleep, and became one with the barrier.

The spring he created would create small life around it in only a month, but over the course of a few thousand years, the magical spring would end up being the source for all life on the planet, and during this time humans and animals would quickly come into existance. Because they were born from a magical spring, they were each magical in their own right. Later, they would use their magic to travel to other worlds, which they would eventually call Chizeta, Fahren, and Autozam.

Legends sprang up over the years about the spring, and when the first Magic Knights came to the spring, they fell inside accidently and went through the barrier, which tested them on their will. Their prize was the powerful sword, which split into four pieces. Three of these pieces became different, but weaker swords that would make the Magic Knights' stories as legendary as they were. The other piece however, shot into the barrier and disappeared as it brought out the man who had created the spring. The three knights took him out of the spring and into civilization, where others would discover who he was, and what he had done.

The sleep he endured had robbed him of his strength in order to keep him alive, however, because his sleep kept him alive for so long inside the spring, the man named it the Spring of Eterna. After naming the spring, he set off with the knights' on their journey so that he could regain the power he lost while sleeping. This is what caused other stories to arise about the man who fought against opponents stronger than him but still managed to win, and often became stronger because of it.

After the journey ended, the man spent a long time training, so that he could have enough strength to endure another sleep. However, before his sleep he had one more thing to do. Because of the nature of the knights' journey, he had to choose someone to take the job of sustaining the land.

He walked up to a small blonde girl he had met on the Journey and spoke to her, " I, Gohan, entrust you, Emaraude, with the duty of Pillar." With this said he left for another, shorter sleep. There are tales of when the journey and training had brought him to the other countries, but those are much shorter, and are often irrelevent.

* * *

_AN_: The anticipated sequel to the Fanfic 'Gohan the Mighty'. I spent an hour on this, in fact, I didn't even plan to write it. It came naturally. Also, I sincerely hope that this prologue was as exciting for you to read as it was for me to write. 


	2. Eterna

**Disclaimer:** I don't got no satisfaction, or DBZ or MKR. But I do own a crappy computer that likes to crash. And a nickel named Phil. 

**AN: IMPORTANT!** A little bit of knowledge of Magic Knight Rayearth is a good thing when you are reading this story. Also the Usual apologies for taking so long to update.

It was a fairly nice day today, cloudy but not rainy, windy but not cold, and there had been no earthquakes here in Tokyo. So why does everything seem so horrible? An answer to that would not be too hard to find if you knew him, the one who had made seeing this day possible. He had saved our world from certain destruction one year ago. Gohan Daimo sacrificed himself for our safety, my safety. I only knew him for a short time, but I felt as though he had always been there, and always would be. I miss him.

* * *

And with that Hikaru closed her diary and sighed before heading off to her room in order to catch some shut-eye. However, sleep would not come easily to her this time, in fact, her sleeping habits had gotten gradually worse as she thought about Gohan's death. This greatly worried Goten, who always spent the weekends at her house. He would often ask how she was coming along and try to console her, saying that he didn't believe that Gohan could truly die. 

Indeed things had changed quite a bit since Gohan had died. Goku had a talk with Goten and the Shidou family and thus convinced all of them to let Goten live with him. Though goten would never get over the death of Gohan, he has become much more happy since he has started bonding with his real father. Goku had divorced Chi Chi and sent her back to live with her father the Ox King. Goku, having taking Gohan's life into careful consideration, tried his best to give Goten a normal life. Goten went to school, had friends, played video games, really the only thing Goku enforced was training. Training mostly involved such things as skill, as opposed to Gohan who always had to focus more on his power.

Kakeru and Masaru have started their own business, a music store. They received the idea after they had both been thrown out of college for listening to music in class instead of working, and pirating music instead of studying for the finals. It had every kind of music imaginable, with the exception of country music. It was very popular and both were making more than enough money with it. Not that they needed it since Gohan had given them all that money a year ago, but they decided that they needed to save that for an emergency.

Satoru still took care of the family, but since his two brothers had careers and there was no need to work he was able to spend more time with Hikaru. He and Goku had become friends since they both knew how it was to be a father, not to mention that Goku was interested in learning Kendo and Satoru wished to spread the art. Goku would often talk of how Goten was growing and learning, or he would tell stories of Gohan or Goten. Satoru also told stories of his brothers or his sister. Hikaru was now eighteen, and a senior in high school, along with her two friends, Umi and Fuu, who starting going to her school not too long ago. Of course Hikaru was the captain of the Kendo club, Fuu the captain of the archery club, and Umi the capitan of the fencing club. Considering that they were in their last year of high school, it was rather strange that the school board had decided to give the seniors a field trip to Tokyo Tower.

* * *

" Man, why the heck do we have to come here anyway? It's not like we are going to learn anything here, and there's nothing fun to do," Umi complained for the umpteenth time. This was something for little kids, not for Seniors. 

Fuu looked over to Umi, "Well, I suppose that they had to do something to take up the time instead of teaching." Obviously Fuu was slightly miffed at the school boards attitude of the curriculum as of late, though she wasn't going to complain since now she had more time to play RPG games instead of homework.

Umi sighed, " I know, but I'm so bored. What do you think Hikaru"

"This is so much fun, I hope we can come here again. Isn't it awesome you guys?" Hikaru said, looking away from the telescope thing that let her see the city up close from the top of the tower. She was smiling as always.  
' Of course,' Fuu thought, ' she is always smiling.'

Hikaru

" Did you guys just hear something?" Hikaru asked puzzled.

Umi

" Who is it?" Umi asked Hikaru.

Fuu

" What does it want?" Fuu wondered out loud.

Magic Knights save our world.

Suddenly the three girls were surrounded by a bright light and they fell through the floor, and soon after, they were falling through the sky.

* * *

Hikaru nervously looked at the ground far below that they were rapidly approaching, looking around she noticed something. " That is a huge volcano" 

Umi was screaming in terror for she was about to die. " Oh my god we're all gonna die! Why couldn't we have ended up falling in that ocean?" Of course this kind of thinking was flawed, just imagine a belly flop after falling from a couple hundred meters.

Fuu was the only one that was perfectly calm, " Amazing, there's a flying mountain." When the three girls were about one hundred meters from the ground a flying fish caught them. A gigantic flying fish the size of a small apartment complex.

The fish flew them to a ledge and disappeared.

" So you are the magic knights? But you are just children!" Said a short boy behind them with lavender hair. He was wearing ornate clothes and weilded a staff with a large blue jewel at the top. Amazingly the staff was taller than he was. " Who are you calling children you shrimp?" Umi yelled at the boy who was a foot and a half shy of her five and a half feet.

" I am Master Mage Clef, and I am seven hundred and forty five years old. Now I suggest you listen to me"

" Mage? So you know magic?" Fuu asked.

" Yes"

" So you could send us back to Tokyo right?" Umi asked.

" No, the only way for you to go back home is to save our world, Cephiro." said Clef.  
' Gohan probably would have scared the magic out of Mage Clef before he would save the world.' Hikaru thought.

" Our princess and pillar Emeraude has been kidnapped by the High Priest Zagato, and her absence has started to take a toll on this world. Tell me you three, do any of you know any magic?" At this the three shook their heads and Clef sighed. "You don't even know magic, what was Emeraude thinking? Oh well, Bestow Magic!" A swirl of flame twisted and swirled around Hikaru.

' I haven't felt this warm since he died.' Hikaru thought. She watched on as water did the same thing to Umi and wind for Fuu.

" Hikaru, close your eyes and clear your mind. What do you feel?" Clef asked.

" I feel something warm, something that cannot be described in words." Hikaru said.

" Good, that is your magic. Embrace it, for it is now a part of you. Now who's next?" Asked Clef looking from Hikaru over to Umi and Fuu. However, before either of them had the chance to answer, several ice spears landed near them.

A woman in a dominatrix costume was riding a flying horse, and she gave her own introduction, " I, magic knights, am Alcyone, and I can't let you live. Lord Zagato has given me orders." Clef summoned up a giant Griffen, "Head to the west, Presea waits for you in the Forest of Silence." He smiled before turning to face

* * *

The three girls landed in a small clearing next to what seemed like a fortress in the middle of a forest. They climbed off of the Griffin and walked towards the house.

" Hey," said Fuu, looking back at the clearing they had landed in, and noticing an eerie absence of the magical creature that had brought them to their present location, "the Griffin seems to have disappeared." Umi just seemed freaked out about it and Hikaru was oblivious to the comment since she was already heading toward the fortress.

Umi sighed, "We should follow her, after all, who knows what evil things could be lurking around here." With that the two girls followed the red headed girl.

After accidently stumbling into the building, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu were looking around the library of the fortress looking for the one named Presea. So far, none of them had seen any signs of the building being inhabited other than the lit torches within it. They were about to abandon their search when they suddenly heard the sound of ripped paper coming from behind a chair.

The girls looked at the chair as it spun around slowly. To say they were shocked when the chair's occupant proved to be a small white ball of fluff would have been an understatement, but it would have to suffice.

"Hello, are you Presea? Clef told us to come and seek your..." Hikaru was unable to finish her statement as suddenly a cage had fallen down and trapped the three girls. As soon as this had happened, a maniacal laughter was heard.

A young blonde woman ran in, still laughing darkly. The girls noticed that she had war paint on her face.

"Finally Mokona, I have caught you in the act of messing up my study room! What should I do first...?" She started to trail off, but Hikaru could've sworn that she heard something about scalping.

"Excuse me, but I believe that there has been some sort of mistake." Fuu, the voice of reason, said, halting the crazy blonde girl during one of her victory dances.

After some convincing, the Magic Knights managed to have the cage lifted, and, shortly afterwards, recieved temporary weapons. Then they heard from Presea the existence of a place called the Magical Spring of Eterna.

* * *

" So Mokona, this is the Magical Spring of Eterna?" Hikaru asked the small white ball of fluff. It gave her a squeal and nodded. " But Mr. Mokona, there is only this line here," said Fuu, pointing to a line that seemed to just float there. 

" What is wrong with the physics of this world! A line can't just be there." screamed Umi, sounding as though she were about to have a nervous breakdown. Of course, if one was a native of Cephiro, then such a thing would not have been a problem, but Umi was a rich girl from another world, so one can only imagine her narrow-mindedness.

Suddenly, Mokona started hopping away. Going up a small trail to a ledge that overlooked the line. Hikaru and the others followed him to the end of the ledge and gasped. Hikaru and Fuu looked over to Umi who was developing a nervous twitch in her left eye.

" Why the hell is there a two dimensional spring, how the hell is that even possible. . . . . " Umi continued to rant and rave for a few minutes before Fuu interupted her.

" The escudo we have to gather for Presea is supposed to be here but I can't see it." said Fuu. At that moment Mokona jumped into the spring and disappeared. The three girls soon followed. They needed to acquire the escudo in order to have Presea make custom swords that would evolve with them.

Inside the Spring of Eterna, the magic knights are supposed to overcome their hesitation in order to gain the escudo. Umi had to fight her parents, Fuu had to fight herself, and Hikaru . . .

" Gohan?"

He stared at her, she stared at him, and he attacked. He kicked at her head and she ducked, he punched and she sidestepped. She probably would have kept dodging instead of fighting back, but she noticed something very quickly, ' No, he is a lot faster than this.' With one slice of the sword she borrowed from Presea, she felled him and felt the room change around her.  
Suddenly, she was standing in front of a Pedestal next to Umi and Fuu.

Magic Knights, take the escudo in front of you and use take it to Presea. Came the voice of Emeraude, which they had not heard since they had been summoned.

"You heard her guys, lets go!" Yelled Hikaru as she ran towards the Pedestal and grabbed the escudo. There was a flash of light, and then they were all back on the outside of the spring. " Yeah, we did it." she said. Umi and Fuu nodded in agreement.

All of a sudden there was a bright blue glow from the spring, and something shot out, and landed on top of Mokona. The three girls look at the figure on top of the white thing, only Hikaru showing any recognition on her face.

" Gohan!" She yelled before glomping onto him. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled.

" I must have slept in Eterna for too long and died, you're here so it must be heaven, though I didn't think the pillows would be so comfortable." Gohan said weakly before slowly standing up, which was quite a feat for a weakened person with another person virtually attached to them. Unfortunately, something he wished would never happen came to pass, he fainted in front of Hikaru.

" Gohan, Gohan!" Hikaru yelled, before looking over to Fuu, who nodded and used her magic to heal him, to no avail.

" How did that guy get here in Cephiro?" Umi said, about to have another breakdown.

" We should get him to Presea, she might be able to help him in ways that we cannot." said the ever-logical Fuu, " Maybe then we can ask him our questions.


	3. Awakening

**Disclaimer:** If I owned these things, I'd make another anime, not a fanfiction. Though I do own a tuna sandwhich I stole from a hobo. Drool...Tuna... I really hope that all of you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Awakening**

After Hikaru had Fuu use some of her healing magic on Gohan, which did little to aid him on waking up, they set up camp and waited. Though Umi and Fuu were talking to her, Hikaru would often find herself averting her gaze from them so that she could cast it upon the still figure a couple meters away.

Her friends would notice what she was doing, every single time that she did it, and they would say nothing on the subject. After all, of all of the people they knew, she and Goten were the only ones without a completely happy ending to the fiasco a year before, and Hikaru was worse off than Goten they knew. Well, actually, Fuu knew it and she told Umi. Because of this, Fuu did not wake him up for answers, and Umi did not complain about his presence.

* * *

They turned in for the night, and Umi noticed that Hikaru was bringing Gohan inside the decent-sized cottage that Mokona had provided them with.

"You aren't actually going to bring him into a cottage in the middle of nowhere with us three girls are you?" Umi asked, sounding a bit flustered.

Hikaru, in all her innocence and joy of being near Gohan again, verbally made it known that she didn't understand the implications. "What do you mean"

"He could try to molest us or rape us or ... or..." Umi trailed off, suddenly feeling embarassed and guilty as she saw the disbelieving look on Fuu's face. "I know he wouldn't do that, but still, it's just not right"

Hikaru and Fuu seemed to understand where she was coming from, so Fuu talked Mokona into giving them another bed inside the cottage. The three girls got into the larger, original, bed after they had placed Gohan in the second, smaller bed.

* * *

Hikaru was had a bit of trouble sleeping, and since her friends had been worried about her, she had to feign sleep so that they could rest. But even after an hour, rest could not find her, for too many questions were buzzing in her head, creating a static in her mind. Sighing, she tried to calm down to answer them one at a time. But everytime she would try to answer one question another wouild pop up.

_How is he alive?_

_Why was he in the spring?_

_How will Goten react?_

_Why hadn't he come back yet?_

It was at this point that she sighed again and climbed out of the bed. Hikaru then staggered wearily towards Gohan's bed. She noticed that he was having a very fitful sleep, due to the fact that his face was twisted in pain. Other than that, the only sign of life was the faint rise and fall of his chest.  
Hikaru, being the person that she was, decided on she thought was the best course of action. She lifted the covers and climbed in next to him, put an arm over his chest as a final question came to her before sleep overtook her. "If Clef looked like a kid and his age is seven hundred and forty five, then how old must Gohan be if he looks three years older?" Hikaru mumbled under her breath.  
Sleep had her in its grasp so soon, she didn't see how the pain left Gohan's face.

* * *

Gohan wasn't normally one to worry, in fact, since traveling through space, he had sort of prided himself on the fact that he could take care of everything, especially after he had met and helped Hikaru. But, back then, he was insanely powerful and he could literally obliterate anything that got in the way of the best solutions he could think of. But that universe was much more logical than this one. Gohan continued thinking in the dream world for a long time before a special thought crossed his mind. _If Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are here, and they acquired the three parts of my sword, then they must be the Magic Knights. Oh Emeraude, please don't tell me_. . . he cut off his train of thought to thoughts of Clef and Presea, who had to be quite old by now. Unfortunately, another bad thought struck him. _Clef was never one for telling others bad news, I wonder, did he tell Hikaru and the other girls the true purpose of the Magic Knights? Last time he didn't, and I can still see the desperation on Lantis and Zagato's faces, though now that I think about it, Rose didn't seem all that bothered by it. But who did it this time? How . . ?_

Thoughts of Emeraude's possible death bothered him, for he was there when she was born, and he had chosen her to be the pillar of Cephiro. He was the cause of all of her problems. Not to mention what Hikaru would have to go through.

All these thoughts pained him, until he felt a comforting warmth next to him. It eased his pain, and the dream world went away, allowing him to sleep peacefully.

* * *

Hikaru woke up feeling more refreshed than she usually did after waking. While part of it was that she had been so tired after all the running and fighting the day before that she must have slept for a substantial amount of time, the rest of it was that ubiquous feeling of emptiness that had inhabited her heart and mind for so long had been quelled. No matter the reason, she was more than ready to face the trials and tribulations of the day. Not to mention that the so far difficult journey would surely be much easier now that Gohan was by her side.

But he wasn't, Hikaru realized, as she opened her eyes, he was somewhere else. She found nothing as she looked around, the bed was empty, with the exception of herself. She ignored her suddenly protesting muscles as she sat up fully to look around the room. Umi and Fuu were already up, Hikaru deduced because of the made bed and the feminine voices from outside. She tried using her undeveloped, but existent, ability to scan the area for Gohan's ki and found it off a ways, near a ki level that was slightly more powerful than Gohan's own. Gohan must be hiding his ki level, Hikaru thought, but why? I don't think that anyone here uses ki, so no one could probably sense him. Hikaru shook her head to forcefully rid herself of the thoughts, figuring that it would be a bit easier to just ask Gohan. She stood up off the bed and gave a little stretch, and then donned her armor and clothes before heading out of the mokona cabin. She saw Umi and Fuu immediately, and apparently both were cooking lunch over a camp fire. They also seemed to be having a good time, if their laughs and giggles were of any indication. They stopped shortly after noticing Hikaru's arrival and offered her lunch. Hikaru eagerly accepted the offer, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.  
Well, Hikaru thought while chewing on her food, if they noticed anything about where I was sleeping, at least they have the decency to not outright judge me. Hikaru decided to take the time to thoroughly enjoy her food before heading out to check up on Gohan.

* * *

Ferio stared grimly at the slightly older man in front of him, while at the same time he stared in wonderment. He had heard from Fuu that this man hadn't even managed to stay concious the day before, and that he was feeling extremely weak this morning. That his muscles were less defined than the last time she had seen him and that he seemed too have lost some weight. That Umi girl had also commented that he seemed to have an extremely less frightening demeanor than he had had the last time they had all seen him. So why was this man up to his six hundreth one-finger push-up with an extremely angry look on his face? Ferio sighed, suddenly realizing that he didn't even know the man's name.

" Hey dude, I'm Ferio, what's your name?" Ferio asked as politely as he could while still retaining some of his personality. When Ferio noticed that the man still had an angry look on his face while staring off into space, he repeated himself. "Yo, I'm Ferio, what is your name?" Ferio asked, this time articulating the last four words loudly. This time the man looked at him before he dropped the angry look, and Ferio saw Destruction Incarnate before the man took on a more friendly demeanor.

" Who is the one who has taken Princess Emeraude hostage?" The man said, completely off-topic. The man then noticed the slightly fearful look in the boy's eyes. The man laughed, the rich sound echoing slightly. _I still got it_. "I'm sorry about that, but I can feel the man's energy and I know that I have felt it before, I just can't seem to remember exactly where I have sensed it before. It frustrated me, sorry if I scared you." _Not really_.

The boy seemed stupefied for a moment before taking on an indignant attitude, "I ain't scared of nobody, pal." Then Ferio seemed to calm down a bit. "The man you're talking about is Lord Zagato, High Priest of Princess Emeraude." Ferio said this with a vicious sneer.

" Zagato, no! It can't be!" The man shouted out, as if he were being torn apart from the inside.

"That traitorous bastard, if I ever get my hands on him I'll . . . I'll . . ." He took a deep breath to calm himself down. _I can handle this, all I have to do is get stronger, so that I can face Zagato_. He stopped his train of thought immediately. Hikaru and her friends were summoned here. _This is their battle, and they'll have to finish it. But that doesn't mean I can't help them along the way, like last time_.

He stood up, and started to walk towards camp, leaving Ferio in a temporarily stunned silence. Before he was out of earshot however, Ferio called out, "You never answered my question, what is your name?" Ferio chased after the man in full sprint after he heard the man's response, which left the rest of the normally loud and wild forest in thunderous silence.

" It's Gohan Daimo, what's it to you?"

* * *

Hikaru was about to go out to go see Gohan, when he came walking in, a panting Ferio following behind him. They both sat down for a rest, and Ferio even started to eat the lunch, when Gohan instigated conversation.

" Well, Miss Shidou," Gohan Daimo started, looking towards her while donning a genuine smile that lit up Hikaru's day, "Cephiro is the last place that I expected to see you. Though I must say it is an extremely pleasant surprise."

Hearing him speak for the first time in a year seemed to be too much as she broke down suddenly and pounced on him, then proceeding to hug the Daimo while also crying into his shoulder.  
Figuring that she wouldn't want her friends to see her like this he glared at them. Not one of them hesitated to leave the two alone.

" I thought I would never see you again my tenshi." Gohan whispered to the sobbing girl.

" Why didn't you come back?" Hikaru cried, " We all thought that you were dead! Goten didn't stop crying for weeks, and even though he tries to hide it, I'm sure that he still cries." Hikaru sniffled, "Even Goku cries sometimes"

" . . . And you, didn't you cry yourself, away from others so that they couldn't hear you?" Gohan felt Hikaru nod meekly against his shoulder.

" Yeah, but how did you know?" Hikaru asked.

Gohan Daimo considered telling her of the times he would suddenly feel extremely sad and downtrodden, and he would instantly know that Hikaru was crying herself to sleep, but he decided against it. She had enough stress already, with the job of Magic Knight, and letting her know that she was the cause of much of his grief, of not being able to help her when she was in so much pain, during his time on Cephiro, just seemed cruel.

" Sorry, but I guess I was just hoping for it." Gohan settled for that. A bonus was that it drew a laugh from Hikaru.

" I missed you so much Gohan." Hikaru confided. "Did you miss me?" Call it natural insecurity or curiosity, but she just had to know.

He had spent nearly twenty thousand years in this god-forsaken world of Cephiro. But only about six-hundred years of those had he been concious, after the first magic knights had been summoned, he had to train to survive as well as support Cephiro while finding a pillar to take his place. Not to mention his trips to the other three worlds. Six hundred years, and without Hikaru each one felt like a meaningless existence. He had no purpose without her or Goten, life was pointless with the exception of striving towards seeing them one last time, even if it would be in heaven or hell.

" You have no idea."

* * *

**Author's Note :** Been a few months, but I ain't dead yet . . . yet. This chapter has been worked on a few paragraphs at a time. Finished 12:10:45 AM, February 3, 2006. In any and all reviews, give criticism for this chapter, suggestions on where the story should head, and any other opinions you think are necessary. I especially liked the last section, because after I wrote it I was quickly reminded of the Magic Knight Rayearth scene in which Lantis talks to Hikaru after she asks him to hit her.

**Author's Note 2 :** Also, if anyone wishes to adopt this story inform me first, and then send me a link to a sample of your own fanfiction. If no one wishes to take on this task, I will continue it myself until it is finished. Oh, also, if you do 'apply' for this story's adoption, I will inform you whether or not you get to adopt it.


	4. Motives

**Disclaimer:** If I owned DBZ or MKR, I would sell them at seven episodes per DVD, because that's what Sorcerer Hunters and Orphen did and people can afford to own all of the episodes.

**Chapter 3: Motives

* * *

**

Ferio had left shortly before they had met up with Presea, saying something about going to look for the princess. They continued to Presea, where she made their three pieces of Escudo into swords. Hikaru received a large sword with a red handle. Umi got a rapier with a blue handle. Fuu got an extremely long sword with a green hilt. When asked of Gohan's escudo, he refused to let Presea have it, rather adding its power to the other three.

When Presea asked him about it, he said that he didn't need a weapon as much as the girls did. No one questioned this.

* * *

They, afterwards, had been following the white marshmallow . . . fuzz thing . . . Mokona for about a week now. Fuu thought that Mokona had been leading them in random directions, and Umi was seemingly losing her sanity, chuckling darkly often while staring at Mokona, or at any other thing that defied physics or genetics. However, Gohan assured them that Mokona knew where he was taking them. Continuing their walk, Umi started a conversation. 

"You mean to tell me that thing is a he?" Umi said, developing another nervous twitch, "How can you tell?"

Hikaru and Fuu were also curious, so they looked at him imploringly. Gohan smirked slightly, he was expecting to tell them sooner or later.

"I am a part of these worlds, and they are a part of me," Gohan gestured with his left hand, bringing it to his heart. "These worlds were born from me, and I was born again from them. As for Mokona," Gohan looked at the thing in question and smirked again, "He was the first sentient life form I 'created' so he and I have a sort of connection."

"Puu pu pupupuu." Mokona chirped in, still hopping ahead, leading them slowly toward an ocean.

"Of course Mokona, I would never forget that." Gohan said.

"What did he say Gohan?" Hikaru asked.

"He told me to remind you that though I am the creator, he is the programmer." Gohan said.

"What do you mean, he is the programmer?" Fuu asked, getting interested in the conversation.

"I don't know if Clef or Presea told you, but this world is governed by the will of the people. The Pillar is Princess Emeraude, which means that her will is so strong that it supports and protects the Cephiro and its people, her will and her prayers alone do this." Gohan looked at all of them, and was about to continue, when he was interrupted by Umi.

"If will equals power in this world, she is extremely powerful. So if she's so powerful, why doesn't she free herself?"

"Because she is a person, and because of that, she suffers from the worst weakness of all. A weakness all of us share." Gohan said.

"What's that?" Hikaru asked.

"Emotion." After saying this he looked away from Hikaru, and up toward the sky.

Fuu interjected at this point, "But emotion isn't always a weakness."

"Fuu's right," Hikaru agreed vehemently, "Emotion can be a strength, right Gohan?"

Still looking at the sky, Gohan spoke, "I never said it couldn't be, in fact, emotion can be the greatest strength that someone can have. Emotion is the only reason I have bothered living as long as I have."

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked. "You've only been here in Cephiro for a year."

"Remember Hikaru," Fuu said, "He is the creator of the world, he's been here longer than Mokona or Clef."

Growing curious, Umi rejoined the conversation. "How long is that Gohan?"

"Going on twenty-thousand years," Gohan said. "I've only been conscious for about six centuries though. Also, the year in Cephiro is about three-hundred days instead of three-hundred and sixty-five."

"You look so young though!" Fuu said, mouth agape.

"Clef looked younger than Gohan, and he's been alive longer than Gohan's been conscious." Hikaru said monotonously , as if in shock.

She had been so lonely, thinking about him nearly constantly throughout the year since he had 'died', not even a fifth of what how long he must have been going through same thing. If her friends weren't there, she might have started crying. Trying to change the subject before she did, she mentioned how he hadn't answered how Mokona was the programmer.

Gohan eyed her for a moment before answering. "Since Mokona was the first sentient being I created, he had a good portion of my energy. He also had free reign of the world which was still partially barren. He wanted to help the world grow, so he instilled within the very planet some of the energy he obtained from me and created the pillar system. It was a great accomplishment." Gohan trailed off, looking as if he wanted to say something more.

"Pu pu pupupuu pu puu." Mokona urged.

"I agree Mokona, it was also your greatest mistake."

"How was it a mistake?" Fuu asked.

"At the end of your journey, you will see." Gohan said, before growing silent.

By the end of the night, they had reached the ocean, and Mokona was just sitting there, much to Umi's chagrin. Right before she was going to scalp him, Gohan spoke.

"Mokona, quit stalling and take them to the ocean temple!" Gohan practically yelled it. Mokona obeyed and shot a laser out of his forehead into the ocean, and immediately the three girls were at the bottom of the ocean, inside a magical bubble that let them breathe.

* * *

Gohan watched as they went into the ocean. He had been there before, so skipping out this time wasn't that bad. He turned and watched the forest they had recently exited. Noticing movement, he called out for the person to show themselves. Not that it was necessary, he already knew exactly who it was.

Now, Gohan was a calm man. If he heard bad news, he didn't start complaining or crying. If he was angered, he would not kill unless the time was right. Something about the man in front of him seemed to make that collectiveness dissipate.

"You're later than I expected."Gohan said with scarcely concealed anger. Across from him was the one whose death would free Hikaru and her friends from the torment the end of the journey would bring.

"I was waiting for the weak invalids to get out of our way before we started," Zagato said, a blank look on his face.

"Those invalids will be your downfall. Besides, as High Priest isn't it inappropriate to insult others?" Gohan said, continuing the small talk that always seemed to exist before important battles.

Zagato smiled as if amused, "Forgive me, manners are one thing that my old teacher never taught me." He raised his hand, surrounding it with a red ki.

"We'll just have to fix that now won't we." Gohan got into an offensive stance, raising his left hand in a blue ki, his right in a green ki.

"I suppose so." With that, they lept at each other.

* * *

"This is simply amazing, we're under water, and this bubble not only lets us breathe, but also allows us to survive the water pressure," Fuu said in fascination, glancing at everything in sight, trying to take in was scientist have strived to see, in her world, for many years, the ocean bottom. So far down that submarines would be crushed by the pressure. If only people would believe her if she wrote about it when she got back home.

"Yeah it is, don't you think so Umi." Hikaru said, half-expected her to rant and rave about how illogical it all was. Umi didn't though, and she had a dead look in her eyes, as though possessed.

Umi started heading toward a large blue doorway, with ornate carvings in it of a dragon. Obviously it was the temple that Gohan had yelled about only minutes before When the other two girls called out to her, she didn't answer.

So they ran in after her.

Inside, there was no water, only fresh air.

Hikaru and Fuu looked around, and saw Umi only as she went through another door, which closed behind her.

"Umi!" They both cried out, before running toward the door and trying, to no avail, to open it. It was then that they heard a child laughing.

"Silly magic knights, what do you think you're doing here?" The voice was that of a child, and if one were to listen closely, they could hear the sarcasm that practically dripped from the words as well as the condescending tone he spoke with.

"We don't really know," said Hikaru innocently.

"Liars!" The voice yelled angrily, making Hikaru and Fuu cringe. "You know exactly why you're here, so don't try to play dumb with me! You're here to awaken the Rune God of the Water Dragon so you can beat Lord Zagato aren't you?"

"We are?" Hikaru asked.

"I said not to play dumb with me, I am not a child!" They voice manifested itself as the child stepped from behind one of the many columns in the temple.

"But you look like a child." Fuu said in a matter of fact tone. This only seemed to infuriate the boy.

"That is it! _Makishima!_" A magical aura surrounded the boy, and then the aura leapt from him to an empty space close to him. The aura began to take the form of a monster much larger than the ones they had faced throughout the Forest of Silence.

"Annihilate them!"

* * *

"Who are you?" Umi said, unsure of where she was, though she was well aware of the giant dragon right in front of her. 

"I am Celes, Rune God of this temple, and only a magic knight can use me." The dragon sounded bored with her, as if she wasn't even worth his time.

"I am a magic knight," she said indignantly, while giving it a glare that dropped the temperature of the room.

"Prove it." Umi saw a bright flash.

Then she saw something worse. Hikaru and Fuu were fighting a rather large monster made of flame. Hikaru couldn't use her fire spells, because they would only help the monster, and Fuu's wind and healing magic was just as useless. Reaching deep into her soul, Umi found something that would greatly aid her in the future.

"Water Dragon!" Umi yelled, raising her right hand to point at the flame monster. A water spell that shaped itself into a large dragon-like form shot toward the monster and disintegrated it.

It was at this point that Umi saw a little boy who was summoning another one. She ran toward him and slapped him, releasing his hold on the spell.

"Why would you summon another one of those monsters!" Umi demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't call them monsters, they're my friends, and you killed one of my friends!" He yelled, he looked like he was about to go on a tirade before Umi slapped him.

Now, there are many different kinds of slaps. There is the stunning slap, which Umi just used to break his concentration. There is also a playful slap, like when a girl slaps her sister for tickling her. But what Umi used after the boy said that was a straight up bitch-slap, the kind of slap that makes you shut up and listen.

"How dare you make your friends fight for you? You use them to attack my friends, and get angry when your friends are the ones to die." Umi's gaze softened as she saw the fear and self-hatred that flickered through his eyes. "What's your name?"

"My name? It's . . . Ascot," Ascot looked away from her, unable to maintain eye contact with her.

"Why were you attacking us?" Umi asked.

"Lord Zagato asked me too," Ascot said. At her inquisitive look, he continued, "My friends and I were always shunned by all the people in Emeraude's palace, except by Emeraude, of course. Zagato said that we would always be welcome if we followed him."

"I understand, but please, try to stay away from him," Umi said.

"Yes Miss . . ."

"Umi," She said with a smile.

"Umi," he said, blushing.

"Does anyone know where Gohan is?" Hikaru interjected. Indeed, none of them had noticed he was gone due to all of the excitement.

"Gohan? As is Gohan Daimo, the Creator? The greatest fighter and mage in all of Cephiro is back?" Ascot said, suddenly as excited as a schoolgirl for a boy band.

"Yeah," Hikaru said this with no little bit of pride.

"Cool, well, I'll be going now!" Ascot left, riding atop one of his monster friends. Mokona reappeared, and sent them all to the shore. But Gohan was still nowhere to be found.

"Where could he be?" Fuu wondered aloud.

"Probably left without us!" Umi seethed.

"I have a feeling that we left without him." Hikaru said this trembling.

"What's wrong Hikaru?"Umi asked. Hikaru started to tear up, feeling an imaginary pain from wounds she knew she didn't have.

* * *

Zagato strode up to where his captive was being held. With his will alone, he let down the barrier that divided the detainee from salvation. 

"I'm not so weak anymore, am I Gohan?" He said, staring at eyes of the person in question. "Why are you here? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"

"I can stop this Zagato, I can set Emeraude free." Gohan said, breathing deeply and bleeding in many places.

"You know as well as I that what you seek to do is impossible." Zagato said, giving a dark chuckle at the thought.

"Not this time, I will be able to stop it, even if I am the one who is the sacrificial lamb." Gohan said.

Zagato thought about it for several minutes, "Even I would not wish that for you, _teacher_." He gave off another dark chuckle. "If the world ends, no one will suffer." With that he started to walk away, planning to pay a visit to a different prisoner.

Gohan sighed, "Everyone will suffer, especially Emeraude." Zagato paused for a moment, but then continued to stalk away.

* * *

May 7, 2006 (7:52pm) 

**AN:** Not too shabby of a chapter if I do say so myself. My offer in the AN of the last chapter is still up for grabs, if anyone is interested. This is also the largest chapter of this story yet, and I hope to keep that trend going.

**AN:** I would like to hear any of your opinions for name changes for this story, Hikaru the Willfull seemed a bit redundant (repetitive) and Imperfect doesn't seem quite right. Please Review.


	5. Listless

**Disclaimer:** New and Improved DBZ and MKR... sorta. Yeah, standard I don't own nothing... though I'm thinking of buying a speedo. 

Just something to think about.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Listless**

* * *

It had taken nearly two weeks travel to reach what the magic knights believed to be their next destination. They couldn't be too sure however, because there was something of a language barrier between them and their guide. 

"Okay you little fuzz-bag! We're at the top of this god-forsaken Mountain, and I have yet to see ANYTHING that even closely resembles a temple! I swear if this is another joke I'll..."

Hikaru looked on in amazement as Umi continued her rant before turning to Fuu and saying, "Wow, I had no idea that she had the ability to shout for over twenty minutes without stopping... is she ever going to breathe?"

"Indeed, the lung capacity to be able to do so must be amazing, especially since we just finished climbing a mountain," Fuu replied.

"God Damn You Mokona!" Umi yelled as she lunged toward the unsuspecting... thing. Right before she made contact with the animal, and thus rendered it lifeless, Mokona jumped up slightly, so that it landed on her head. It then made a 'pupupupu' sound which sounded almost like a laugh. Umi sighed loudly before taking out a bottle labeled 'Happy Pills'. After swallowing a handful, she sat down quietly and smiled.

Fuu laughed, "I knew it was a good idea for Mokona to conjure up those pills."

Umi smiled at Mokona, " So, where do we go now?" Mokona pu'ed and created a magic bubble around all of them, which then lifted them and flew them to the mountain in the sky that they had seen upon their entry to Cephiro.

* * *

If one was to visit the inner recesses of Zagato's Lair, they would find, besides a sub-par name for a castle, Ascot playing with his friends, the summoning monsters. Their bond had grown exponentially since their encounter with the magic knights. 

One person was around to be treated to the sight of a content child, a rarity in this world.

"Hey Ascot, hold down the fort for me sugar, I got explicit orders from Lord Zagato to intercept the magic knights at the Temple of the Wind God." So spoke a young woman with pink hair and tan skin, dressed as an exotic dancer. (1)

Ascot dispelled his friends, and turned to look at her. He then spoke with a resigned, but happy demeanor.

"Don't fight them Caldina, you won't win." This seemed to irritate her.

Is he doubting me, I'll show that kid. "Don't worry kid, I'll take care of them, then Zagato will pay us and we can go whereever. we want." She ruffled his hair, eliciting a groan of indignation from him, "Then I can be free, and you can have a place where you and your friends can be happy."

With that, Caldina headed towards the exit, only showing hesitation as Ascot's next words.

"Gohan Daimo is back"

* * *

At the moment, Hikaru and Umi were waiting outside while Fuu was inside the Wind Temple. Fuu had entered the same half-concious state that Umi had been in only days before. 

"Is that really how I was back at the water temple?" Umi asked Hikaru while they waited.

"Yeah, it's kinda scary seeing you two like that; monotonous and dull, when you two are always full of life and emotion. However homocidal that emotion may be." Hikaru said this with a slight shiver at the images, of her friends dead, that this train of thought created.

"Which reminds me, where's Mokona?" At the lack of any sight of the white marshemallow, Umi sighed again and popped another couple of pills. This simple act, however, brought forth old memories of Hikaru's.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

Hikaru was sitting atop a building in Tokyo. It was a tall building, twenty floors tall, twenty one if you counted the lobby. She was watching the large swaths of people that littered the streets, many of them drinking, singing, or cheering. Or some combination of the three. 

The world was safe. All the demons that had previously held power over all of the inhabitants of earth had finally been eradicated from the planet. This included the notorious Buu, who was known for his ruthless acts of destruction. Nearly the entire global population spent the following week in what seemed to be a never ending party.

The party was due to the fact that, unlike many other times in which the world was in peril, no one had wished for the memories of the people to be wiped of the events, nor had they wished for everything to return to normal. It would be the first time since the Red Ribbon Army that the people had to rebuild everything themselves.

One thing that was forgotten, or rather, never known was that their saviour, the one that was seen fighting Buu and his dragons, had died.

Gohan was dead.

Gohan is dead, Hikaru thought, tears coming to her eyes quickly as she watched others celebrate in the streets before they had to start rebuilding. Gohan is dead and no one cares. This wasn't exactly fair, it was well known amongst her and her brothers and all the people Gohan had known, that Goten had taken it extremely hard. Arguing for about ten days that his brother couldn't die. Then he had turned into a sobbing wreck before Goku was able to comfort him. Still, he was never quite as energetic as before. But even this knowledge didn't make Hikaru feel any better. If anything, it only made things worse. She sighed and stood up.

Hikaru was standing on the ledge of a large building, and briefly wondered if she would feel all twenty floors if she fell.

"Impossible to believe isn't it? That he could die." Hikaru turned to the talking green giant that she had met only a month beforehand. She nodded at him while wiping her tears. Picolo sighed before landing on the ledge next to Hikaru.

"He always seemed so strong, even just by being near him I felt safe. I'd be lying if I said I never worried for his safety, but to be truly honest, the thought that he wouldn't always be there never even crossed my mind." Hikaru said this while shifting her gaze back down to the streets below.

"Always strong?" Picolo said barely holding back his laughter. "When I met him the first time, he was a crying scared brat." He smirked when the young Shidou turned her head so sharply it was miraculous that she didn't get whiplash.

"Wh... what?" She said incredulously. At this, Picolo actually laughed.

Picolo spoke, as soon as his laughter subsided, "It's wasn't his fault really... he was only five and he had just seen his father killed in front of him." Hikaru gasped. While she and Gohan had become close in the short amount of time that they had know each other, and had shared their worst and darkest secrets with one another, they hadn't exactly had enough time to really get to know their pasts. "Of course, this was still when he viewed his father as the greatest and strongest man in the world. He thought his father could do no wrong and that his father was invincible. Did you know that he used to idolize his father?" He asked the red ruby-haired girl.

"No, I didn't." She paused, "How'd his father die?"

"I killed him." At this the girl was so startled she nearly fell off of the ledge, but Picolo grabbed her, and brought her back to steadily standing on the ledge.

"Why?"

"His uncle was an evil man named Raditz, Gohan had been kidnapped and in order to save him Goku had to ho.ld him while my attack killed them both. Afterwards, I took him to be trained in the wilderness. He cried and whined so much that I picked him up and threw him at a mountain. Unexpectedly, he learned how to fly to save himself in the process. So I used training as my excuse for throwing him, and he was none the wiser." Picolo stopped his story at the loud laughing of Hikaru.

"Hahaha... you threw him at a mountain? And then called it training? Hahaha..." When her laughter started to ease up, the namekian continued.

"What I'm trying to say is that he's done the impossible before. Even as a child, scared and alone with the man that killed his dad, he managed to learn flying, a technique that takes some people years to figure out." Picolo paused, "...Even if... even if he's not here, even if the dragon himself can't find the dimension he's in, I have no doubt he lived through the fight." Though to be honest, the chances he's still alive are very slim, Picolo thought. "And that whereever he is, or even if he died, he wouldn't want us to lose ourselves." At this he gave the girl a pointed glare.

"What am I supposed to do without him?" She asked the tall man, her eyes downcast.

"Whatever it takes." Sighing, he replied mysteriously, before leaving.

Whatever it takes? Hikaru was alone, standing on the ledge of a twenty story building, wondering how bad a fall would hurt... and took the elevator.

* * *

End Flashback

* * *

Hikaru wondered if that was how she had acted before talking to Picolo. Was she so lifeless when she wasn't crying?  
She was brought out of her musings by the odd feeling of having a rapier piercing her stomach. 

"Ow. Umi, what do you think you're doing?" Hikaru asked, forcing the rapier out of her body by pulling on it and noting the dull look on Umi's eyes, more so than the drugs had ever done.

Maybe she overdosed. Hikaru briefly wondered.

* * *

"Please Windam, I need your strength in order help my friends and this world of Cephiro!" Fuu was, at this point, trying to coerce the giant to accept her. 

So far she had had no luck.

"What makes you worthy of using my power?" The booming voice resonated throughout the temple. "How strong is your will to do these things?"

"I will never back down in helping my friends or saving this world."

"Prove it."

The next thing Fuu knows, she's in front of her two friends outside of the temple. Umi standing over a fallen and unmoving Hikaru.

"Oh my God! Hikaru!" Fuu yelled before rushing forwards to heal her. "Who did this Umi?"

Umi stepped in front of her, blocking her from helping Hikaru. It was at this point that Fuu noticed the blood dripping off of the blue haired girl's blade.

"Sorry, Sugar, but Umi can't hear you right now"

* * *

2:05 AM 7/8/2007 

(1). Exotic, not Erotic

**AN:** Guess who hasn't updated in over a year? Yes, yours truly. Since I haven't written anything in so long, I fear my style may have suffered. And it wasn't that good to begin with.

**AN**: Just wanted to let everyone know that my former offers stand.


End file.
